The least worst state, according to New York-based Gawker? New York. Minnesota comes in at the 45th worst, by which Gawker means it is actually one of the best. (Thanks to commenter who urged me to clarify what the heck Gawker is actually saying here) Excerpt:

The Good: The Twin Cities area tends to be a pragmatically progressive, pleasant place to live. There’s lots of good cultural stuff like theater and all that. Outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul, there is lots of picturesque, Scandinavian-tilled farmland dotted with lakes. That landscape is also, at one point anyway, dotted with the Mall of America, an enormous shopping complex complete with indoor Nickelodeon theme park. If that’s too crassly commercial for you, down the road a bit is the (disputed) world’s largest ball of twine. Oh, and one of Minnesota’s senators is Stuart Smalley! The best thing about Minnesota, though? Fried food.

The Bad: Uh, well, the government shut down. Also, Michele Bachmann. The conservative movement is only growing in Minnesota, and though it seems like a gently folksy kinda place, it’s not always so pleasant. But really the main way that Minnesota is (naughty word deleted)? It’s cold.